20+ Big-Batch Recipes to Make on Vacation

updated Jul 28, 2022

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sliders in a dish missing a few — Credit: Photo: Eric Kleinberg; Food Stylist: Kristina Vanni
Ham and Cheese Sliders

If you’re already dreaming about your vacation rental for the summer, aside from thinking about that pool or beach time you’re desperately craving, you may be starting to think about what you’ll cook up to feed the crowd. Rental kitchens can sometimes feel a bit limiting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make some delicious meals (and summer desserts! And drinks!) that will please everyone. Here are over 20 easy vacation recipes to inspire you and satisfy everyone in your crew.

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How To Make a Sandwich for a Crowd

Forget making multiple sandwiches and just make a giant one instead. This sandwich actually benefits from a night in the fridge, to let the bread soften, so it's a perfect choice when you're on vacation. Make it before bed and you can cart it to the beach the next day to feed the whole crowd.

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Bow Tie Pasta Salad Recipe

Your cookout isn’t complete with a big-batch of pasta salad dressed in zesty vinaigrette and tossed together with a rainbow of fresh vegetables.

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Watermelon Lemonade

A giant pitcher of watermelon lemonade is a vacation essential! Each sip is cool and sweet with just enough punchy lemon flavor to keep it balanced.

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Budget Pitcher Sangria

No vacation is complete without a good cocktail. All of the ingredients for this simple sangria are sourced from Costco, so you won't have to break the bank to make a big pitcher for everyone. Plus, it's easy enough to double (or triple) the batch, depending on how thirsty your group is.

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Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad

Since this pasta salad relies on a handful of store-bought ingredients like pesto, roasted red peppers, and cheese tortellini, it's an easy option when you're on vacation and working with a limited pantry. It also keeps well in the fridge, so you can make a double batch and reach for it throughout the week for lunch or dinner.

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Hot Dogs in the Oven

Did you really summer until you’ve had at least one hot dog? Oven-baked hot dogs are the fastest and most efficient way to prepare perfectly cooked hot dogs for you and your vacation crew.

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Burgers in the Oven Recipe

Grab a few ingredients from the nearby grocery store, grab the vacation rental’s sheet pan, and crank on the oven because tonight’s burger night.

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No-Bake Sheet Pan Lemon Yogurt Tart

A big-batch no-bake lemon treat that tastes like dessert but virtuous enough to eat for breakfast on vacation. It doesn’t get any more easy, peasy lemon-squeezy than this yogurt tart.

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Sausage and Eggplant Summer Frittata

Frittata is basically the ultimate vacation meal because it can be enjoyed countless ways. Enjoy it warm for brunch first, then pack up leftovers for easy lunches by the pool or tuck slices between bread for simple no-cook dinners.

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Ham and Cheese Sliders

This big-batch of slider sandwiches have it all: sweet slices of ham, irresistibly gooey Swiss cheese, squishy Hawaiian rolls, and a savory butter drizzled over top. Not only are they the ideal fare for game-day spreads, lunch boxes, but they’re easy and excellent to make in your vacation home kitchen.

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Classic Coleslaw

A classic, dependable coleslaw like this one can easily partner up with burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, chicken, pizza shop pies, and all the other delicious dishes you put on the vacation table.

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Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

While rental kitchens might not have every pot and pan, they likely have a sheet pan kicking around, which means these crowd-pleasing fajitas are an easy dinner option. Plus, this recipe makes enough to feed everyone and then some.

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Greek Chicken Pasta with Olives and Feta

Want to make this light-and-fresh pasta even more vacation-friendly? Forget cooking chicken breast and instead just pick up a rotisserie chicken and shred it. This is another one that's worth making a double batch of, as leftovers are great cold the next day for lunch.

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Ice Cream Sandwiches for a Crowd

If you want to be the person who wins this vacation, make these ice cream sandwiches. You just need a package of chocolate chip cookie dough and a quart of your favorite vanilla ice cream to achieve summer dessert bliss.

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Succotash Salad

This succotash salad bejeweled with corn, tomatoes, quickly cooked sweet onion and hit with feta and basil is just the thing to feed a crowd with on a hot summer evening.

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3-Bean Israeli Couscous Salad

This salad is light enough that it can play side dish to whatever you may be tossing on the grill, but it's also filling enough that it can be a wholesome lunch or dinner. The recipe also makes enough that you can have it both ways over the span of two days.

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Chili-Lime Chicken Skewers

Everyone needs a go-to summery chicken dinner, and this is mine. Bite-sized pieces of zesty, smoky marinated chicken are threaded onto skewers and grilled to perfection.

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Grilled Merguez Sausages and Veggies with Crispy Chickpeas

Come summer vacation, ice cream parties and classic hot dog and burger cookouts are quintessential. But a mixed grill party – think a delicious platter of grilled mixed vegetables, merguez sausage, halloumi cheese, and crispy chickpeas – is the warm-weather feast you likely never knew you needed…until now!

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Italian Sausage and Peppers Baked Ziti

The best part about this giant pan of baked ziti is that it can be prepared ahead of time. Fully assemble it — or even bake it and freeze it — before you leave for vacation and you can pack it up in the cooler and bring it with you to bake or reheat.

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Blackberry and Nectarine Upside-Down Sheet Cake

Use up that embarrassment of farmer’s market riches and satisfy your inner dessert person at the same time with this summery sheet cake dotted with juicy blackberries and sliced nectarines.

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S'mores and summer go hand in hand. This simple bar version on the classic dessert is easy to transport and way less messy.

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